In this specification unless the contrary is expressly stated, where a document, act or item of knowledge is referred to or discussed, this reference or discussion is not an admission that the document, act or item of knowledge or any combination thereof was at the priority date, publicly available, known to the public, part of common general knowledge; or known to be relevant to an attempt to solve any problem with which this specification is concerned.
Tube barrel holders are devices commonly used to allow one or more samples of liquid like blood or similar from patients or pouchs to be collected directly into sample receiving containers in an essentially sterile manner or in a manner that reduces contamination. Tube barrel holders generally consist of a sampling chamber consisting of a needle, sheathed needle or multisampling needle and a sampling port that allows suitable sample receiving containers to be used with the tube barrel holders. The sample receiving containers may or may not be evacuated and generally have an elastomeric material in the cap or lid that allows the needle in the tube barrel holder to pierce thereby allowing the liquid sample to flow into the sample receiving container from the pouch, patient or other liquid bearing container. Sample receiving containers include tubes, phials, bottles and other similar containers. Each sample of liquid may vary from a quantity as little as 1 ml to 10 mls or more depending on the application and requirements.
There are occasions in clinical practice where it is desirable to check the sterility or other properties of a liquid stored in a pouch before that liquid is administered to a patient or otherwise used. Examples are blood and blood components such as serum and platelets. However, there is a danger that the sampling procedure in which a sample of the liquid is taken from the pouch can contaminate the liquid and introduce bacteria into the pouch and the liquid. Tube barrel holders are often used directly with the pouch via suitable access ports or in conjunction with other sampling devices to obtain samples of liquid for the required testing.
In other environments, such as manufacturing and the like, there is also the need to extract samples from a batch of liquid while ensuring the integrity of the batch.
In other occasions, it is desirable to obtain samples of blood from patients for testing or other purposes in a sterile manner and this is often conducted using tube holders in conjunction with venipuncture needles or scalp-vein needles.
The tube holders containing the sampling needles present an accidental needlestick hazard for healthcare and other workers as the mouth of the sample port is generally sufficiently large for fingers to enter the port and be exposed to the contaminated needle.
One method of reducing this needlestick injury risk is to provide a lid at the mouth of the sampling port that can be closed shut by the healthcare worker after the procedure has been completed. The present invention provides an automatic means of blocking access to the sampling needle that does not require intervention by the healthcare worker other than to complete the procedure by removing the sample receiving container from the tube barrel holder.